Home Comforts Please Simon Grayson

After three weeks on the road and three more to look forward to after the weekend, manager Simon Grayson is looking forward to getting out on the Deepdale pitch this weekend.

The Lilywhites have been to Orient, Rochdale, Swindon and Havant & Waterlooville since they last kicked a ball in anger at Deepdale – the comeback against Fleetwood – and after this weekend it is three more road trips before the second round of the FA Cup, so the luxury of a home game is something to be cherished, according to the gaffer.

Even though international call-ups could have allowed the Lilywhites to postpone the game, the decision of the PNE boss was to play the game, one he hopes home advantage will pay dividends on.

“We have not played at home for such a long time and we aren’t here again for another few weeks, so we felt it was a good opportunity to play,” he said.

“We’ve had a great run of form and given the number of games we’ve had away from home we though that it would be nice to be back on home territory.

“A number of players are going to be away on international duty, but we have enough cover to be able to put out a strong team and hopefully get the three points.”

The West Yorkshire visitors enjoyed a thrilling 2-2 draw in PR1 last season, a game that saw a man of the match display for the Bantams from a man who will instead wear the No.17 of PNE this weekend.

“When we played them at Deepdale it was the early part of the season and they were flying at the time,” continued Simon. “They had the momentum from the promotion the previous season and looked a very strong outfit.

“On that particular night Reidy [Kyel Reid] was unplayable at times. Glynn and I have both worked with him before at other clubs and I am sure that with more game time that the very best of him is still to come.”

Monday’s return to winning ways after back-to-back losses was important for the squad and the manager is hoping that they kick on again now.

“It was important to get back to winning games on Monday night. When you look at the form, we have won nine of our last 11 games and we should be delighted with that.

“Only Bristol City wouldn’t want to swap places with us at this particular time. They is a long way to go, but we are looking forward to getting back to Deepdale – with the proud record we have there in the last 12 months – and we want to keep that going as long as possible.

“We know we are in for a tough game. The Lancashire-Yorkshire Roses rivalry is in play to add a little bit of spice and they will have a good following over.

“We need to replicate the things we have done well for large parts of the season so far if we are going to win the game,” he added.